1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to puppets and to cheering with pom-poms and more particularly to a puppet with pom-poms and to a method of cheering with a puppet with pom-poms.
2. Description of Prior Art
Pom-poms are bundles of strands ofa material such as plastic, textile or crepe paper. The prior art teaches that pom-poms are regularly used for cheering at and for competing entities, such as at professional, college and high school sporting team events. The pom-poms known and used include types that are hand-held, finger-held and pom-poms attached to the end of a stick. However, regardless of how the pom-poms are held, the pom-poms are manipulated by the user by movement of a finger, arm or stick, and are typically moved in multiple directions. The user is and appears to be the one manipulating the pom-poms.
Another common feature associated with cheering, particularly with the cheering of sports teams, is the adoption and use of a character or mascot for the team. A costumed person dressed as the character or mascot may show up at the event to cheer on the team, much to the amusement and happiness of the spectators watching. In addition, novelty representations of the character or mascot are known and these are sometimes brought to the events and held by fans and waved around in a cheering fashion.
It is also known to form puppets with heads representing characters of all varieties, including animal characters, whereby the limbs of the puppet are able to be manipulated by the fingers, hands or arms of the user, and whereby the limbs may include attachments such as a drum and stick or boxing gloves, whereby the puppet is manipulated to give the appearance of playing a drum or boxing.
While the prior art shows the construction and use of pom-poms for cheering, including cheering at cheering events, and the novelty representations of characters and mascots at events as well as puppets, the prior art does not show a puppet that includes pom-poms as attachments to the puppet; or the appearance of movement of the pom-poms by any other than the one physically holding the pom-poms; or the use of puppets with pom-pom attachments such that the pom-poms can be manipulated for cheering at an event, such as a sporting event.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,086, to Offen, discloses a pompon pet. The pompon pet is used as a cheerleading device in the fashion of the typical use of pom-poms. That is, it is held in the user""s hands and the user is and appears to be the one moving the pom-poms. Furthermore, the features that suggest that the pom-poms are a character, that is a pom-pom pet, such as the eyes, are hidden from the view of others as the device is moved around in typical pom-pom fashion. It is only when not is use that the pom-pom device looks like furry little creatures when placed on a surface.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,725, to Smith, for a wrist pompon structure, U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,396, to Pratt et al., for a pompon prize device, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,215, to Offen et al., for a finger-held pompon are all used for cheering in the typical fashion. That is, when used and manipulated, the pom-poms give the appearance of being manipulated by the one doing the manipulation, and what is common is the pom-poms are meant to be directly manipulated by the user, with no suggestion that the user may act as an intermediary to a puppet or character so as to create a fiction.
In addition, while U.S. Pat. No. 849,588, to West, discloses a doll that includes arms and legs that are manipulable by fingers,.and the suggestion of the attachment of an xe2x80x9camusement devicexe2x80x9d to the arms of the doll, the only amusement devices suggested are a drum and a sounder. Pom-poms are not suggested and there are no suggestions for use of the doll as a cheering item or for use of the doll so as to create the perception that the doll is acting in a xe2x80x9crealxe2x80x9d sense, rather then merely as a toy item.
As such, an object of the invention is to create an additional method of cheering for spectators at an event. Another object is to have a method of cheering that gives the appearance of a character or mascot as the mover of the pom-poms, rather than the manipulator of the pom-poms. Another object of the method is to add to the joy and excitement of cheering anywhere, including at events, and to add to the user""s and spectator""s feelings of allegiance to the team. Another object is to have a puppet that includes the addition of pom-poms on its limbs that can be manipulated. Another object is to create an additional use for a puppet as a cheering entity, such that it can be used in a xe2x80x9crealxe2x80x9d sense in the real world. Another object is to create a new way of using and moving pom-poms. Finally, another object is to create a way to move two pom-poms in one hand, rather then having to use two hands.
The present invention includes a puppet having manipulable limb assemblies having pom-pom attachments to the limbs, and a method of using the same. In the preferred embodiment according to the invention, the puppet includes a handle portion that can be held by the user during use of the puppet, on which is attached one or more limb assemblies. Each limb assembly includes an upper limb element pivotally attached to the body support, an extending limb element pivotally carried on the upper limb element, a pom-pom attached to the extending limb element, a means to activate the limb assemblies, and a head connected to the handle portion. The means to activate include a triggering means and a return means, which is disposed so as to allow the user to grasp and carry the handle portion while at the same time controlling the activation means.
The method includes use of the puppet as a method of cheering, such that by manipulation of the limbs the pom-poms attached to the limb assemblies move and the puppet appears to be the one cheering.